Dick Regan steps down as Holy Cross AD

Dick Regan, who has served as Holy Cross’ director of athletics since 1998, announced Tuesday he is stepping down from his position.

“I have worked with some outstanding and wonderful people here at the college,” said Regan, a 1976 Holy Cross graduate. “However, 15 years in one place is a long time in any business, particularly college athletics. I would like to work another 8-10 years, and I believe this is the time to take on one more challenge.”

A national search for Regan’s successor will begin this summer. Regan will remain in his position, possibly into the fall semester, he said, to assist the college during the transition.

“Dick has not only had a productive and successful history at Holy Cross, he has also contributed to the college athletic policy nationally in the Patriot League and the NCAA,” Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J., president of the college, said in a statement. “We are grateful to him for his loyalty, passion, commitment, for his key role on campus, and for taking important steps to upgrade athletics facilities at Holy Cross. We wish him well as he begins a new chapter in his professional life.”

Regan, 59, said he had been considering moving on for about a year. Last summer, he was contacted by Fordham during its search for a new athletic director.

“When that Fordham thing came up,” Regan said, “it was kind of a wake-up call. It got me thinking about doing something different. If I’m going to work another 8-10 years, I have to get going on stuff.”

Regan, who worked for NFL International and NFL Europe before Holy Cross, said he will likely continue working in college athletics. Regan previously spent nine years working for Arthur Andersen & Company and was the New England Patriots’ vice president of finance from 1985-88.

During Regan’s tenure at Holy Cross, 20 teams won league championships and 19 of them advanced to NCAA Tournament play, including at least one team in 10 of the last 14 years. From 2000-12, the men’s and women’s basketball teams each won more Patriot League games than any other league teams, and from 2006-11, the football team won more games than any other league team.

Over the last several seasons, however, HC finished at or near the bottom of the standings in the Patriot League Presidents’ Cup, which is awarded to the member institution with the highest cumulative sports point total for their PL standings in sponsored men’s and women’s sports.

Regan introduced two new varsity sports at Holy Cross, women’s ice hockey and women’s golf, and increased the number of HC teams coached by full-time staff members.

Regan considers the hiring of coaches such as Ralph Willard (men’s basketball), Tom Gilmore (football) and Greg DiCenzo (baseball), and the ability to retain hockey coach Paul Pearl among his accomplishments.

“That’s not the type of thing you bat 1.000 on,” Regan said, “but when you look back, probably the best thing I did was hire some very, very good coaches.”

As for what he would have done differently, Regan said, “I think maybe I would have fought harder for support. My tendency is to say to the administration, ‘Give me what you can and I’ll make the best of it,’ and I think if I had to do one thing over I’d say, ‘Give me what you can and I’ll make the best of it, but right now it’s not enough.’ I tried to be a good soldier and work with what they gave me and never complained about it. Maybe I should have been a little bit more of a squeaky wheel. Maybe I should have fought or articulated better what we needed.”

In terms of facilities, Regan’s administration saw the completion of the Linda Johnson Smith Stadium for the men’s and women’s soccer teams and a new synthetic turf facility for football and men’s and women’s lacrosse.

Regan informed the HC athletics department staff and coaches of his decision to step down Tuesday morning.

“I’ve been here 15 years,” Regan said, “15 years, it’s kind of amazing. Most ADs, and there are exceptions, are somewhere 5-6 years, maybe eight years, then go somewhere else. You think about 15 years, and geez, that is kind of unusual.

“I want to continue to work a lot longer,” Regan said, “and you think about doing something different, a new challenge, new people and there is some interesting stuff out there. I’ll be looking at stuff over the next couple of months.”

Contact Jennifer Toland at jtoland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.